Text messaging has become a popular mode of communication in many mobile (or wireless) networks. One example of text messaging is Short Message Service (SMS), which is a set of communication protocols allowing the exchange of short text messages (i.e., 160 characters or less) between devices. While the term “text message” traditionally referred to text-only messages sent using SMS, it has been extended to include multimedia messages, such as images, video, sound content, etc. The multimedia messages may be sent using Multimedia Message Service (MMS) protocol. Often times, mobile users more frequently use text messaging for communication than voice calls.
Although text messaging is traditionally thought of as two mobile devices exchanging text messages, there may be web-based applications that allow an end user to send or receive text messages. For example, an end user may access a web site that provides a page for sending/receiving text messages. Through the web page, the end user may enter a message intended for a recipient and a telephone number for the recipient. The web-based application then generates a send request for the text message using an Application Programming Interface (API) defined for web-based services.
Organizations have defined standard APIs for web-based applications to use when sending/receiving text messages. One standard is Parlay X SMS Web Service for SMPP. Parlay X SMS Web Service for SMPP provides operations for sending an SMS message to a network, monitoring the delivery status of a sent SMS message, and asynchronously receiving notification of message delivery status. Parlay X SMS Web Service for SMPP interacts with a native SMPP network to send/receive SMS messages.
Another standard is Parlay X SMS Web Service for Parlay. Parlay X SMS Web Service for Parlay provides operations for sending an SMS message to the network, monitoring the delivery status of a sent SMS message, and asynchronously receiving notification of message delivery status. Parlay X SMS Web Service for Parlay interacts with a Parlay gateway using a Parlay Connector to send/receive SMS messages to/from a network.
Unfortunately, the standard APIs presently defined for web services do not provide enough flexibility for today's evolving networks.